1. Field
Example aspects of the present invention generally relate to network configuration, and, more particularly, to configuring a network to provide resiliency and protection for network circuits.
2. Related Art
Virtual Private Wire Service (VPWS) and Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) applications provide connectivity between customer sites (end nodes) using virtual circuits that emulate a private path through a service provider's MultiProtocol Label Switching (MPLS) backbone network. VPWS applications provide point-to-point connectivity between customer sites, whereas VPLS applications provide multipoint connectivity, emulating the function of a LAN switch or bridge to connect all of the customer LANs to create a single bridged (Ethernet) LAN. Virtual circuits can emulate existing layer-2 links, such as, for example, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and Frame Relay links.
One difference between a VPLS application and a VPWS application is that the VPWS application provides a point-to-point service, whereas the VPLS application provides a point-to-multipoint service. Accordingly, the requirements on customer edge (CE) devices are different for VPLS and VPWS applications. In a VPWS application, CE routers provide layer-2 switching and choose which virtual circuit to use to send data to another customer site. By comparison, in a VPLS application, CE routers send all traffic destined for other sites to the provider edge (PE) router, which routes the traffic to the relevant destination PE routers.